Designed around the new Pratt & Whitney 2,000HP radial engine and tuning the largest propeller ever attached to a fighter plane, the Vought F4U Corsair became a legend in its own time. The F4U-1 was the first production version of the Corsair. It had a inverted gull-wing and a framed canopy with a flat top.

However many problems were found soon. For example, the port wing stall often gave the Corsair unstable landing. And another problem was poor visibility because of its long nose and framed canopy. Therefore F4U-1A: the cockpit was raised about seven inches, the framed canopy was replaced with a semi-bubble design canopy, and the taller tail wheel strut was equipped; was introduced. F4U-1D with clear vision canopy on frameless was introduced later for more visibility. Also the F4U-1D had two pylons under the center wing section that could carry the bombs up to 1,000 pounds and the napalm. Furthermore 5 inch rockets could be carried under each wing.

Therefore in 1944, the F4U-1D was formally deployed as the first carrier based aircraft of Corsair series. Beginning by placing the F4U-1D as Marine squadrons VMF-124 and VMF-213 aboard the ESSEX on the way to the Philippines, the F4U-1D was used for attacking Japan as the first operation from U.S. Navy in 1945. About 3,700 amounts of F4U-1D were produced, then it held an established position from U.S. Navy because of its ability and reliance.

Easy and quick kit to build. This was the first kit of this plane. I enjoyed it very much.

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16 of 16 people liked this

Great replica kit

By Sherlingpoet19
May 3, 2016

Had fun with this one. Very detailed. Be careful about putting the rear wings on and make sure they line up when joining the fuselage. Otherwise this is definitely a favorite.

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16 of 16 people liked this

Another Great Tamiya Kit

By jasonbva17
March 28, 2017

Yet another example of a how good Tamiya kits are. This was a great kit to build and turned out very nice. All the pieces fit together perfectly and had quality detail. All parts were formed well and had no imperfections. The instructions were clear, to the point, and offered different options for units that the aircraft belonged to. The detail of the cockpit left something to be desired, but it is still nice enough to display with the canopy open. For the price and quality, this model can not be beat.